Why the Chickens Crossed the Road to the Digital Age

Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO)

Customer Snapshot:Overview

1,100 farmers and processors now able to transact all business online

From hatchery to farmer to processor, Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) helps coordinate business transactions for the entire industry, not just the farmers themselves. Adapting to ever-changing business needs is key to their success. To remain at the forefront of their industry, they rely on automation, real-time insights, and data that help ensure the safety of their farms and chickens.

Following their digital transformation, they were able to Run Live to get the real-time tracking they needed, which enabled them to increase efficiencies up and down the value chain and remain leaders in their industry.

2003

2008

CFO introduced the “Ontario Fresh Chicken” brand to further build the reputation of locally grown and processed fresh, healthful chicken.

2009

CFO developed a new strategic mandate: To lead and facilitate the growth of a world‐class chicken industry that can profitably and sustainably grow locally, across Canada and internationally.

2010

CFO began auditing farmers under the Animal Care Program (ACP). Approximately 600 farmers are successfully certified in the first year.

2011

At year‐end, 68% of CFO farmers were certified under the Animal Care Program. CFO mandates that all farmers be certified by year-end 2012.

2012

The New Chicken Farmers Entrant program was introduced to encourage and assist new farmer‐members to enter the chicken farming industry.

2013

CFO expanded the use of the CFO Connects: Trace. Ontario is the first province to implement the innovative concept of electronic forms for flock production and marketing reporting by farmers.

2014

CFO launched CFO Connects, a significant strategic initiative to digitize all business transactions between farmers and the rest of the industry value chain.

2015

CFO celebrated its 50th Anniversary.

Customer Snapshot:Business Model

Making Sure Ontario Eats Local

Since 1965, the citizens of Ontario, Canada have depended on CFO to ensure a stable supply of healthy, fresh, locally grown chickens. It's a big job that requires the non-profit to work with a vast value chain, including chick hatcheries, chicken farms, corn and soybean growers, and processors.

CFO puts excellence, leadership, accountability, and most of all, collaboration as the essence of their culture. As an industry stakeholder, they represent the entire industry, not just the farmers themselves.

Keeping Up with the Farming Industry.

Customer Snapshot:Success Strategy

Improving Food Safety and Traceability

Real-time tracking is critical to food safety in this industry. When safety becomes an issue, being able to instantly identify the source and potential farms that could be in danger gives CFO the leg up on working with processors to ensure safety by immediately controlling chicken production, and keeping all farm members up to date.

CFO is an early adopter of next- generation technology in the food industry and enables them to remain leaders that continue to help transform their business and the industry as a whole.

The Challenge

Feeding Farmers Data in Real-Time

The systems that CFO was running started to get dated and at the same time, their business was evolving. As leaders in their industry, they needed to establish the right platform and provide the right tools for their industry as well as their business.

This meant capturing data in real-time and automating processes to eliminate inefficiencies and errors attributed to manually inputting this data. The range of technology levels among all of their farmers was also a huge factor, as some are highly digital with their farming techniques, and others still do all farming by hand with no technology whatsoever. CFO needed the flexibility to work in that full spectrum.

Enter SAP

Customized Plans Tailor Fit to their Work Environment

For CFO’s digital transformation to be successful, they focused on the ability to adapt to their industry’s ever-changing business needs within a very customized environment.

Because SAP worked with CFO as a business partner and was able to map individual business processes to CFO’s customized work environment, they were able to make the transformation from being an isolated organization to one that is using best practices and leveraging standardized technology.

Real-Time Data is Critical.

Enter SAP:The SAP Experience

Leading the Industry into the Digital Age

The implementation of SAP software has allowed CFO get a better profile of their business partners and farmers, giving them a stronger relationship with their industry stakeholders.

The real-time data that they get is critical for traceability and food safety in the chicken industry. For example, when Avian flu was detected on a duck farm in Ontario, CFO could instantly identify all chicken farms within a certain range and ensure safety by immediately controlling chicken production and keeping all farm members up to date. This allows CFO to ensure they have the best product for their consumers and their customers.

Full Overview of Detailed Insights.

Better Business

Always On. Always Leading the Way.

Through CFO’s digital transformation, they were able to essentially eliminate the need for paper and have moved into a digital platform where people come to meetings with tablets instead of binders of paper.

The transformation has reached all their staff, the farming communities, and industry stakeholders as well. Instead of being a 9:00 to 5:00 organization, CFO now runs 24/7 so business can get done after hours, which has allowed them to diversify their products and provide growth opportunities to other markets within their industry.

I'm privileged to be part of this transformation. It's not very often that you get the opportunity to change an entire industry. I feel like we're at the first step of our digital journey. We've made the transformation, and now it is about extending and capitalizing on all of those tools.— John Um, Director of IT, Chicken Farmers of Ontario

Better Business:Benefits

Digital Transformation Impacts an Industry

CFO’s digital transformation has not just brought major changes and benefits to chicken farmers, but has transformed the entire chicken farming industry, which is a large and complicated culture of its own. This is a huge first for industries in Canada, and the impact it’s had can be seen up and down the value chain.

Transforming Culture.

Real-time data and the automated processes have led to increased efficiencies by eliminating manual data entry errors. All of CFO’s farmers have made the transition and they are now completing their forms on a computer, on a tablet, on whatever mobile device that is available. The results? Expedited delivery, while improving traceability and food quality – and therefore, healthier, safer food for people to count on.

Eliminated 50 paper forms

Saved 1,000's of working hours

Better Business:Run Simple

Shifting the Chicken Farming Culture

Bringing CFO’s digital transformation full circle meant making the shift culturally to their internal teams as well as branching out to their industry stakeholders. CFO proved that change is necessary to remain competitive, efficient, and effective as an entire industry.

Getting people to buy in and making sure that they themselves are digital is what made the cultural shift. Now CFO has partners that have been in business with them for 20 years and they see the advantages of this evolution. CFO is excited about extending and leveraging all of the tools that this transformation has afforded them to continue their digital journey into the future.

Journey Ahead

Taking Chicken Farming into the Future

The success that CFO has realized through their digital transformation has enabled them to understand how many tools and resources are available to help them continue their journey into the future with the goal of leveraging more mobile applications and driving more cloud platforms and infrastructures.